Distributor members — Watch for email seeking your input on Sept. 8NACD Share The National Association of Chemical Distributors has partnered with Wilson Perkins Allen Opinion Research, a national opinion research firm, to help NACD best understand the needs our industry will face in the future. WPA has developed an online survey, will collect all responses and provide input to the Board of Directors on how to best align NACD and its resources with the needs identified through your input in the
coming years.More

CEF welcomes new staff memberCEF Share The Chemical Educational Foundation would like to introduce the newest member of our team, Brian Taylor. Brian is a recent graduate of James Madison University
and joins CEF as marketing & communications assistant. Brian will be promoting and supporting the growth of CEF's You Be The Chemist programs throughout the country. Brian may be reached by phone at 571-482-3055 or by email at btaylor@chemed.org.

Is your
community up for the Challenge?CEF Share The start of the 2011-2012 You Be The Chemist Challenge cycle is right around the corner. Join the hundreds of
chemical industry volunteers already involved and get this rapidly growing program started in your community!More

General Business Interest

Driver
shortage shows gain in US truck cargoBloomberg Share U.S. trucking companies may face a 30 percent surge in wage bills by 2014 as rising demand for freight
shipments threatens to push the industry's driver shortage to the longest on record. The current shortfall will double in a year to about 300,000 full-time positions, or 10 percent of the workforce, said Noel Perry, managing director at consultant FTR Associates in Nashville, Ind.More

6 ways small businesses should prepare for disastersAmerican Express Company Share A natural disaster can often catch small businesses off-guard. How quickly a company is able to recover after a disaster usually determines how successful they are in the future. Adequate preparation
creates trust among your clients and will allow your business to continue without too much damaging effects.More

Should you trust your gut? Testing your decision-making instinctsForbes Share Do you know when you should trust your gut instinct when making a decision? According to Andrew Campbell and Jo Whitehead, "Our gut intuition accesses our
accumulated experiences in a synthesized way, so that we can form judgments and take action without any logical, conscious consideration." How can we be sure our gut isn't giving us wrong information?More

The fear that's holding back your businessBloomberg Businessweek Share Too often, entrepreneurs or executives hesitate to reach out to others — even people who like them a lot. It's natural to feel nervous reaching out to colleagues you respect. But most people will
want to help you. Sure, people are busy — but there's something profoundly satisfying about assisting other people, and we may even be hard-wired to do it. On expert suggests that asking for favors can actually be a powerful way to get people to like you better, because they become invested in your success.More

Want a simple way to double or triple your productivity?Forbes Share Wanting to be more productive isn’t enough to actually make you more productive. You need to find a way to deal effectively with the distractions, the interruptions, and the fact that there is
just way too much on your plate. Fortunately, there is a very simple strategy that has been proven to do the trick.More